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Report: Hawaii wasn't ready to handle missile threat alert
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HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii's nuclear missile scare showed that the state began testing alerts before fully developing a plan to address the ballistic missile threat and that a public outreach campaign months earlier wasn't effective, said a report released Tuesday. The state Department of Defense, the agency that oversees Hawaii's emergency management, released the internal review after an alert was sent to cellphones, televisions and radio stations across the state last month. The notification, which read "BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL," triggered widespread panic as more than a million residents and visitors feared they were about to face a ballistic missile strike.